Alex Shelley To Debut In WWE NXT Next Week

The first matches of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic took place on last night's episode of NXT. Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel of Imperium vanquished The Forgotten Sons and will face the winner of Pete Dunne & Matt Riddle vs. Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster in the semi-finals.

The Undisputed ERA also progressed to the next round as they defeated Gallus. They will have to wait until next week to find out who their opponents will be, as announcer Mauro Ranallo revealed that Kushida's mystery partner was Alex Shelley. The Technical Messiah will make his debut on next week's episode as The Time Splitters reunite to take on Grizzled Young Veterans.

Shelley previously teamed with Kushida in New Japan Pro Wrestling between 2012 and 2015 and the pairing was a successful one for both wrestlers. They won the 2012 Super Junior Tag Tournament and went on to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships at Power Struggle from Forever Hooligans. While Shelley was forced to spend some time on the sidelines after they lost the titles, the pair achieved more success together in 2014 when they defeated The Young Bucks at Dominion 6.21 to begin their second reign as champions. The tag team then disbanded in 2015 as Shelley chose to return to Ring Of Honor.

Since then, Shelley has competed primarily in ROH, but a Time Splitters reunion was teased at EVOLVE 133 as after Kushida defeated JD Drake, Shelley made his way to the ring and the pair shared a moment together.